ELSA STEEL

Elsa has extensive experience of teaching in the UK. She began her career as a class teacher then progressed to head teacher, LA English Consultant and Reading Recovery Teacher Leader. Other roles include Excellence in Literacy Quality Mark verification on behalf of The International Literacy Centre, UCL, London and daily Reading Recovery teaching which keeps her in touch with pupil, teacher and school literacy concerns. Elsa is also a trainer for Talking Partners, Fischer Family Trust Wave 3 Literacy, Hi Five Literacy, Literacy A to Z and Leicestershire’s Inference Training programme.

Speaking at a Reading Recovery conference in Sydney and Reading Recovery National conference in London Elsa explored potential challenges pupil face when encountering an unseen reading text and how practitioners might support pupils. Elsa has extended her literacy interest to the southern hemisphere and has had opportunities to visit some schools in New Zealand and network with a range of professionals.

Visiting schools and working alongside a variety of practitioners is both a privilege and rich resource. In 2015-2016 Elsa worked as an Associate Teacher Leader for the International Literacy Centre, UCL training Reading Recovery teachers in London and the surrounding areas. One of the schools went on to receive a national award for their literacy support in 2017.

Elsa has been an avid supporter of Boosting Reading@Primary and Secondary and led many training programmes. She is currently interested in how volunteers with no teaching experience might use the programme to support pupils and is part of a project set up by her local Council. Whilst the programme was originally devised with this in mind, it seems not to be often used in this way and yet has so much potential, especially in the current climate of squeezed school budgets.